Successful Jungheinrich Showcase at eCarTec in Munich

As one of the world’s leading manufacturers and service providers of intralogistics solutions, Jungheinrich is also capable of translating its innovative expertise to other industry sectors. As a result, the company – being the sole exhibitor from the intralogistics sector – showcased its products and solutions to a professional audience at the eCarTec in Munich.

This only recently established industry event is deemed to be the world’s largest tradeshow for electric and hybrid mobility. During three days more than 430 national as well as international exhibitors presented electric vehicles, storage systems, drive and motor technologies as well as solutions relating to energy, infrastructure and financing. The event, was complemented by a conference and an outdoor area for test driving the latest electric and hybrid vehicles.

A major attraction was the skidsteer mini digger by Tobroco (‘Giant’ brand), which had been developed for various attachments and which Jungheinrich had retrofitted with an electric drive. “With cleaning machines as well as in the construction equipment sector we can see a clear trend towards electro-mobility”, explains Carsten Harnisch, Head of Division Energy and Drive Systems. “Especially in regard to construction machinery for indoor use, topics such as noise and exhaust emissions are at the forefront. In this area, combustion engines can no longer hold a candle to electric drives, also considering that eDrives are much more low-maintenance.”

Capacity over 70 kW

The “electrification” in this sector also doesn’t spare larger vehicles. With the Kramer 5055e, Jungheinrich retrofitted a wheel loader with a 32-kW motor plus a hydraulic drive with a maximum of 40 kW amounting to a total capacity of more than 70 kW. The continuous output is 40 kW. “This new, cost-efficient and emission-free electric drive, of which we already sold 70 units this year, allows the wheel loader to effortlessly work inside buildings and noise-sensitive environments”, Harnisch states. This vehicle won this year’s bauma innovation prize.

Emission free and maintenance poor

Another exhibit on display in Munich was the small electric car Wenckstern, a ‘hot rod’ which is used for city tours in many cities. Harnisch: “The original vehicle was fitted with a petrol engine and was very high-maintenance. Using our standard components, we completely retrofitted the car with an eDrive. This entails numerous benefits. On the one hand, the vehicle becomes more reliable and can run 15,000 hours – which equals approximately 400,000 km – without maintenance. On the other hand, businesses renting out these cars can venture into new areas, in which emissions are unwelcome or even prohibited.”

Battery technology ‘real USP’

Jungheinrich is capable of providing its customers with complete solutions including control systems, batteries (lithium-ion and lead-acid), charging technology and peripherals. “Especially in terms of energy efficiency, we are in a leading position, because – among other things – we can produce control units that not only contribute to optimum energy efficiency but also feel great during operations. We can basically retrofit any combustion engine vehicle with an electric drive”, Harnisch emphasizes, adding: “Our battery technology is a real USP in view of our competitors, as one specialty of our solution also lies in the fact that all components communicate with one another. Our control units communicate with the batteries and these in turn with the charging devices, thereby creating fully interconnected systems, which in the future can share your data directly with the cloud. This makes our solutions entirely Industry 4.0-ready.”